Electrical impedance scanning for breast cancer risk stratification in young women

Abstract

Background: Electrical Impedance Scanning (EIS) measures changes in breast tissue associated with breast cancer development. The T-Scan™ 2000ED is designed to use EIS to identify women ages 30-39 with elevated risk of breast cancer (i.e. T-Scan+ women). Aim: To estimate the relative risk of breast cancer in a T-Scan+ woman compared to a randomly-selected young woman. Methods: A prospective, cohort arm trial was conducted in pre-menopausal women. T-Scan specificity was evaluated in a cohort of 1,751 healthy women ages 30-39. T-Scan sensitivity was tested in a cohort of 390 women ages 30-45 scheduled for biopsy. Relative risk of breast cancer at time of exam was calculated for T-Scan+ women. Results: T-Scan specificity was 94.7% (95%CI: 93.7%-95.7%). T-Scan sensitivity was 26.4% (95%CI: 17.4%-35.4%). There were 23 of 87 biopsy-proven T-Scan+ cancers. The relative risk of a T-Scan+ woman having breast cancer is 4.95 (95%CI: 3.16-7.14). Conclusion: EIS can identify a subset of young women with a relative risk of breast cancer almost 5 times greater than in the population of young women at-large. T-Scan+ women have a sufficiently high risk of breast cancer to warrant further surveillance or imaging. © Springer-Verlag 2007.